NSAIDs Also Fight Bacterial Infection?

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – New research from the University of Wollongong, in Australia, reveals commonly used drugs that combat aches and pains, fever, and inflammation also have the ability to kill bacteria. These drugs, better known as NSAIDs, act on bacteria in a fundamentally different way than current antibiotics. The findings could open up new strategies for fighting drug-resistant infections and “superbugs.”

The team of researchers analyzed three NSAIDs: bromofenac, carprofen, and vedaprofen. The more commonly known NSAIDS, including aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, were not tested. The researchers identified that anti-inflammatory drugs bind to and inhibit a specific protein in bacteria called the DNA clamp. The DNA clamp is part of an enzyme that synthesizes DNA molecules from their nucleotide building blocks.

The discovery comes at a time when there is pressing need for new classes of antibiotics. “The fact that the bacteria-killing effect of the anti-inflammatory drugs is different from conventional drugs means that the NSAIDS could be developed into new kinds of antibiotics that are effective against so-called superbugs,” senior author Dr. Aaron Oakley of the University of Wollongong, in Australia, was quoted as saying. “This is important because the superbugs have become resistant to many—and in some cases most—of the available antibiotics.”